Taipei: Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen said Thursday that the end of China’s landmark party congress signals an “opportunity for change,” as she called for dialogue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Tsai was speaking publicly for the first time since Xi was handed a second term during the 19th Communist Party meeting that concluded this week, which cemented the Chinese president’s grip on power.
Ties between Taiwan and China have become increasingly frosty since Tsai was elected president last year.
Beijing cut off official communication with her government shortly after it took office due to her refusal to publicly accept the principle that both sides belong to “one China.”
The rivals split after a civil war in 1949 and Taiwan is a self-governing democracy today, although it has never formally declared independence.
China still sees it as part of its territory to be reunified, by force if necessary.
At an event Thursday marking the 30th anniversary of cross-strait exchanges, Tsai said she hoped communications could now resume.
“I must once again call on leaders from both sides to uphold tact and balanced, traditional political wisdom, to find a breakthrough,” she said.
She added that they should also work toward “permanently abolishing fears of hostility and war.”
Tsai recalled that it had been 30 years since Taiwan began allowing Nationalist soldiers who fled to the island after the Communists’ victory on the mainland to return home to China to visit relatives.
It was a “milestone” in cross-strait development, Tsai said.
During the party congress, Xi stood by Beijing’s offer to restore communication with Taiwan if Tsai’s government readopts the “1992 consensus.”
The so-called consensus agrees that there is only “one China” without specifying which is its rightful representative.
It was acknowledged by Tsai’s predecessor Ma Ying-jeou, paving the way for an unprecedented thaw in relations.
But Tsai shows no sign of changing her stance — her Democratic Progressive Party is traditionally pro-independence.
Xi delivered a stern warning to Taiwan during the twice-a-decade congress, saying Beijing would thwart any attempts to push for Taiwan independence.
Since relations have worsened under Tsai, China has attempted to intimidate Taiwan by sailing its sole aircraft carrier and flying jets near the island during military exercises.
It has also blocked the island from participating in key international events.
Tsai has previously called on Beijing to find “new modes” for cross-strait interactions and has insisted Taipei will not cave into pressure.
Taiwan leader hopes for ‘breakthrough’ with China
Taiwan leader hopes for ‘breakthrough’ with China
Russia says foreign forces in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate targets’
- Moscow has repeatedly said it will not tolerate the presence in Ukraine of troops from Western countries
MOSCOW: Russia would regard the deployment of any foreign military forces or infrastructure in Ukraine as foreign intervention and treat those forces as legitimate targets, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, citing Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The ministry’s comment, one of many it said were in response to questions put to Lavrov, also praised US President Donald Trump’s efforts at working for a resolution of the war and said he understood the fundamental reasons behind the conflict.
“The deployment of military units, facilities, warehouses, and other infrastructure of Western countries in Ukraine is unacceptable to us and will be regarded as foreign intervention posing a direct threat to Russia’s security,” the ministry said on its website.
It said Western countries — which have discussed a possible deployment to Ukraine to help secure any peace deal — had to understand “that all foreign military contingents, including German ones, if deployed in Ukraine, will become legitimate targets for the Russian Armed Forces.”
The United States has spearheaded efforts to hold talks aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine and a second three-sided meeting with Russian and Ukrainian representatives is to take place this week in the United Arab Emirates.
The issue of ceding internationally recognized Ukrainian territory to Russia remains a major stumbling block. Kyiv rejects Russian calls for it to give up all of its Donbas region, including territory Moscow’s forces have not captured.
Moscow has repeatedly said it will not tolerate the presence in Ukraine of troops from Western countries.
The ministry said Moscow valued the “purposeful efforts” of the Trump administration in working toward a resolution and understanding Russia’s long-running concerns about NATO’s eastward expansion and its overtures to Ukraine.
It described Trump as “one of the few Western politicians who not only immediately refused to advance meaningless and destructive preconditions for starting a substantive dialogue with Moscow on the Ukrainian crisis, but also publicly spoke about its root causes.”
